We're all hearing stories about teacher layoffs and shrinking education budgets. But before we get too concerned about cuts (and many cuts are cuts in growth; many layoffs are reductions in open positions), we should think about the ways that the education establishment squanders scarce taxpayer resources. A good example: Project Labor Agreements. Many times I've watched as public school districts pass a bond after crying poormouth to local residents. But immediately after the bond goes through, the board will enact a PLA, which essentially assures that all the construction dollars go only to union firms or to firms that agree to become de facto union firms during the project. This reduces competition and inflates costs. A new study pins the additional PLA costs at 13 percent to 15 percent.
In this editorial I wrote for the Orange County Register, I argue:
Even in tough times, Public Sector Inc. is about protecting fellow union members, not about stretching dollars for the public.
A new study by the National University System for Policy Research confirms this point: "Our research shows that PLAs are associated with higher construction costs. We found that costs are 13 percent to 15 percent higher when school districts construct a school under a PLA. In inflation-adjusted dollars, we found that the presence of a PLA is associated with costs that are $28.90 to $32.49 per-square-foot higher."Unions are attacking the study mainly because it is underwritten by a contractors' trade group. A union-backed think tank questioned the data by suggesting that it doesn't account for various differences in geography in California, although the study's authors say that they did, indeed, account for those differences. But it's clear that PLAs increase costs. How could they not, given that, by design, they impose costly union monopoly standards that reduce competition and promote higher benefit levels?
Even in tough times, Public Sector Inc. is about protecting fellow union members, not about stretching dollars for the public.
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